The most famous myths about the Titanic

By Katie Dowd

on April 15, 2018 4:00 AM

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Photo: Hulton Deutsch/Corbis Via Getty Images

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A cursed mummy on board the Titanic led to its downfall

If this story sounds too good to be true, it’s because it certainly is. Nonetheless, the myth of the cursed Titanic mummy has long taken hold in the public imagination. According to legend, the British Museum was having trouble with their newly acquired mummy, the Princess of Amen-Ra. The coffin was producing eerie sounds and causing a rash of deaths around it. So the museum sold the princess to an American archaeologist, who arranged to take the mummy back home on — you guessed it — the Titanic. The mummy took its final revenge on the ship, bringing it down with its spooky magic.

Of course, there are no records of a mummy being transported on the ship. Nor are there records of a mummy of Amen-Ra residing at the British Museum.

A cursed mummy on board the Titanic led to its downfall...photo-15366248.180285 - |ucfirst

Third-class passengers were locked in to prevent them from taking space in lifeboats

It’s one of the most memorable scenes from the 1997 movie “Titanic”: the steerage passengers being trapped below decks to prevent them from taking up space on the lifeboats. But historians say there’s little evidence it actually happened. Third-class passengers had enough barriers to safety, without outright entrapment. The third-class area was a labyrinth of halls and stairwells, making escape routes difficult. In addition, lifeboats were only available on the first and second-class boat decks. As a result, first class passengers were more likely to reach the safety of the boats, while third-class passengers struggled to make it to the higher decks.

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A man was able to sneak onto one of the Titanic’s few lifeboats by dressing as a woman

The rumors dogged William T. Sloper of New Britain, Connecticut for the rest of his life. According to a contemporary tabloid tale, Sloper survived the sinking by finding man-sized ladies’ attire and dressing himself up as a woman, thus conning his way onto a lifeboat. Sloper was shunned and shamed, but the story was a complete fabrication. Sloper, a first-class passenger, wasn’t initially going to board a lifeboat — the scope of the disaster wasn’t immediately evident — but he was convinced to do so by another passenger. He hopped on the first lifeboat to leave, with only 28 of its 65 seats filled. Although he hadn’t done anything wrong, Sloper’s name became attached to the sensational tabloid story, which he spent the remainder of his days denying.

It’s a nice bit of symmetry, but the distress call “SOS” had been in use for about three years before the Titanic disaster. In addition, the Titanic’s wireless crew (seen here shortly before the sinking) used the old code “CQD” to request aid. Although SOS was starting to replace CQD, many British crews still used the old letters to signal distress.

The emergency call “SOS” was used for the first time on the...photo-15377798.180285 - |ucfirst

The White Star Line advertised the Titanic as “unsinkable”

It’s the Titanic’s most famous — and ironic — moniker. While there’s plenty of evidence that contemporary newspapers and experts touted the ship as “unsinkable,” the Titanic’s company itself never billed it as such. As a Snopes page on the topic notes, White Star advertisements tended to call it the “largest and finest” steamer in the world. After its demise, the word “unsinkable” became increasingly attached to the liner, in order to accentuate the dramatic hubris of the situation.

The White Star Line advertised the Titanic as “unsinkable”...photo-12210943.180285 - |ucfirst

The ship’s musicians stayed onboard, playing music to calm passengers until the bitter end

The tragic image of the lonely musicians, playing as the ship went down, is a classic vignette from the Titanic. It’s almost too poetic — but it actually did happen. Many survivors later told similar tales of seeing the eight young musicians performing on deck; none would survive the disaster. There’s some disagreement as to what their final song was. Some survivors recalled hearing "Nearer, My God, to Thee" while another contemporary account names the last tune as “Autumn.” But considering “Nearer, My God, to Thee” has a better mythic resonance, it’s the one usually employed in movie adaptations.

Staircase to Deck A of the RMS Titanic, with fine furniture....photo-15377805.180285 - |ucfirst

The reading room on the upper promenade on the Titanic.

The reading room on the upper promenade on the Titanic.

Photo: George Rinhart/Corbis Via Getty Images

The reading room on the upper promenade on the Titanic. photo-15377793.180285 - |ucfirst

The saloon deck aboard the ship, where the children's playground was located. The photo was shot during the short voyage from Southampton to Queenstown, England, by Rev. E.M. Brown who debarked at Queenstown.

The saloon deck aboard the ship, where the children's playground was located. The photo was shot during the short voyage from Southampton to Queenstown, England, by Rev. E.M. Brown who debarked at Queenstown.

Photo: Bettmann/Bettmann Archive

The saloon deck aboard the ship, where the children's...photo-15377785.180285 - |ucfirst

Purser Hugh Walter McElroy and Captain Edward J. Smith aboard the Titanic during the run from Southampton to Queenstown, England. The man who took the photograph, Rev. F.M. Browne, got off at Queenstown, three days before the ship hit an iceberg and sank.

Purser Hugh Walter McElroy and Captain Edward J. Smith aboard the Titanic during the run from Southampton to Queenstown, England. The man who took the photograph, Rev. F.M. Browne, got off at Queenstown, three

All that was left of the greatest ship in the world - the lifeboats that carried most of the 705 survivors. Operated by the White Star Line, SS Titanic struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

All that was left of the greatest ship in the world - the lifeboats that carried most of the 705 survivors. Operated by the White Star Line, SS Titanic struck an iceberg in thick fog off Newfoundland. (Photo by

A second class ticket from the RMS Titanic is on display during a news conference by Guernsey's Auction House January 5, 2012 aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Guernsey's announced the historic auction of the complete collection of artifacts recovered from the wreck site of RMS Titanic. less

A second class ticket from the RMS Titanic is on display during a news conference by Guernsey's Auction House January 5, 2012 aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York. Guernsey's announced the ... more

Photo: Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

A second class ticket from the RMS Titanic is on display during a...photo-1998809.180285 - |ucfirst